[blackshoe]

Saw Spiderman 2 tonight. Nice sfx, otherwise meh.

[Winstonm]

Rented Saving Mr. Banks on ppv a couple days ago. Told as a series of flashbacks, it was a tad slow starting and difficult to follow at first but then I found the story quite compelling and enjoyable. At the same time, I am a huge fan of Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music, so heart-tug movies tend to get to me. Still, I thought it quite worth watching and would highly recommend it.

[hrothgar]

New X-Men movie is very good.

Great scene involving Quicksilver set to "Time in abottle" by Croce.

[1eyedjack]

I have just realised that there are only two occasions in my life that I have ever encountered an individual with first name "Manni". One is the elephant in Ice Age. The other is Lola's boyfriend in Run, Lola, Run.

It seems to be growing in popularity, but only on the fringe:

http://www.babycente...byNameId=566085

Just a random thought to wile away the time

[Mbodell]

Edge of Tomorrow and The Fault In Our Stars are both quite good.

22 Jump Street is very similar in tone and quality to 21 Jump Street so if you liked that movie, you'll like the sequel. If not, you will not.

[y66]

From Manohla Dargis' review of Boyhood:

Quote

Even after seeing the film three times, I haven’t fully figured out why it has maintained such a hold on me, and why I’m eager to see it again. There are many reasons to love movies, from the stories they tell, to the beautiful characters who live and die for us. And yet the story in “Boyhood” is blissfully simple: A child grows up. This, along with the modesty of its physical production — its humble rooms, quiet moments, ordinary lives — can obscure Mr. Linklater’s ambitions and the greatness of his achievement.

[gwnn]

I just saw An Education (2009, so not quite recent, but also not old). Wow, what a performance by Carey Mulligan! I can't believe it's the same actress from Shame (2011)! And the social commentary is also compelling, although I wasn't there in the 60's to really empathise.

[gwnn]

And caught The Armstrong Lie on TV, it's quite well made.

[y66]

Saw Boyhood Sunday. Loved the movie and the soundtrack. The protagonist is a dead ringer for my nephew who is only slightly older which made it more fun.

[hrothgar]

Just saw "A Most Wanted Man". Very well acted, but very low key...

[Mbodell]

hrothgar, on 2014-July-29, 13:29, said:

Just saw "A Most Wanted Man". Very well acted, but very low key...

Agree. I saw it when very tired, and that was not a good pairing. Would have been much better seeing Lucy while tired (average minus at best) and this while awake rather than the other way around.

[jjbrr]

lucy is turrble. watching scarjo for an hour and a half shouldnt be so awful

[hrothgar]

Guardians of the Galaxy was very good.

Looking forward to Sin City II in a couple weeks...

[mike777]

Agree with the comments on wanted man and lucy and found guardians above average fun.

Boyhood is a bit long and a bit repetitive but ok.

Next up is:



The Hundred-Foot Journey

Helen Mirren, Manish Dayal

In "The Hundred-Foot Journey," Hassan Kadam (Manish Dayal) is a culinary ingénue with the gastronomic equivalent of perfect pitch. Displaced from...

---

Just rewatched and recommend:

"Easy A (2010)

tomatometer
|All Critics
|Top Critics
85%
Average Rating: 7.1/10
Reviews Counted: 178
Fresh: 152 | Rotten: 26
It owes a huge debt to older (and better) teen comedies, but Easy A proves a smart, witty showcase for its irresistibly charming star, Emma Stone.
audience

77%

liked it
Average Rating: 3.8/5
User Ratings: 125"

Ms. Stone is starring in the new Woody A. movie

[gwnn]

Boyhood was really a unique journey... We had a long discussion on what we saw in the film and we identified some holes/weaknesses but it is just such an irresistible experience, seeing everyone age 12 years so gradually in such a short eigenzeit of the viewers (less than 3 hours!). Inevitably we are drawn to connect the film to our own childhood and it is also hard not to think of "what it all means" -- but the nice thing is that the film allows these ideas to develop by themselves, independently of whatever happens to go on in the plot. We are not force-fed anything.

Indeed it is repetitive as my esteemed colleague above notes, but that is just another fascinating question raised by the film: Can we ever truly change? Can we escape the patterns we are trapped in? etc etc

I know these are not particularly original questions but that is just how life is, raising questions already asked and perhaps also answered by others before. There is also a feeling of incompleteness in several scenes and characters, again not unlike real life.

I have a lot more thoughts about this film but suffice it to say, it is not just "a bit long and repetitive."

[1eyedjack]

Ha Ha Ha I have just watched "Sharknado". What a hilariously bad flick. On a par with Santa Claus Conquers The Martians.

The amazing thing is, I just noticed that they made a Sharknado 2.

[mike777]

1eyedjack, on 2015-January-29, 17:25, said:

Ha Ha Ha I have just watched "Sharknado". What a hilariously bad flick. On a par with Santa Claus Conquers The Martians.

The amazing thing is, I just noticed that they made a Sharknado 2.

I have not seen any but fwiw they are making #3



So many movies out falling behind...Sniper and Paddington this weekend.
fwiw The INterview is not as bad as the reviews...typical movie from Rogen, not good but not that bad....
MOrdecai much worse...a bad version of "pink panther"

--------------


My favorite movie of 2014 is the Imitation Game, X-men, yes that movie a close second.

[Phil]

Some recent watches:

1. Interview. Didn't like it but felt very patriotic to buy it on Google Play.

2. Boyhood. There's something compelling about this movie. Maybe it's just being in total awe of a filmmaker that doesn't mind waiting 10 years to make a movie.

3. 100 foot walk. Probably the best movie I saw in 2014.

4. Let's Kill Wards Wife. Very effing funny.

Still waiting for Interstellar to appear on PPV especially since I just read the Christopher Nolan edition of Wired.

[Mbodell]

I haven't seen as many movies in the last couple of months.

Selma I enjoyed a lot.

American Sniper was also quite good.

The Hobbit was disappointing (all payoff and no buildup/development - a factor of the 1 story into 3 movies)

Blackhat was interesting. Probably a lot more realistic than many Hollywood movies on "hacking", but still quite far from realistic. The style of film was interesting.

Big Hero 6 was a lot of fun. I like the San Francisco/Tokyo mash up of a setting.

Mocking Jay was pretty good.

Foxcatcher was well made, but none of the characters were that interesting or likable.

Interstellar was over rated. And obvious in plot.

Gone Girl was deftly made and entertaining.

Nightcrawler was compelling with a distinctly disturbing and unlikable main character.

The Gambler was blah, but Goodman's character was great.

John Wick was an above average action flick, but kind of burred by time of year.

Citizenfour was excellent, one of the best films of the year, and really incredibly compelling.

I did see Boyhood a while ago and thought it was very good, but not really best picture excellent. But I do respect the length of time and dedication it took to make the movie.

I still have 4 best picture nominees to see (Whiplash, Birdman, The Imitation Game, and The Theory of Everything).

For my personal favorite movies of 2014 I think it would be (in some order):

LEGO movie, Snowpiercer, Citizenfour, Selma, and Chef.

[kenberg]

Man, this is when you don't see many movies?? Whew!

I'm feeling like I am not pulling my weight here. I have been thinking of Selma, American Sniper (no way Becky would go with me to that one), and Imitation Game. Then I realized that these all share a trait with the last movie that I saw at a theater, Philomena. They are all based on real people/events and they all, perhaps, sacrifice some accuracy for the sake of drama and viewpoint. I realize that Shakespeare did not treat Richard III objectively but still.

Maybe I should go with Boyhood. I always (well, almost always) like stories about young people.